The clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1883-1888, 1887-04-27

7
down with If. Being so wholly taken up
with her own griefs, Shirley had not heard
of it
For, something unusual, Deacon Durham
was in the throng. Moreover he was talking
and that excitedly He was in his shirt
sleeves, his skeleton arms waving 10 and fro,
his thin, gray locks shaking with excitement
as be talked. There was the gleam of fanati-
cism in his eye.
The wrath of the Lord is upon Linwood,"
Shirley heard him say. This sickness is a
Judgment upon the people for their sins. The
children walk in the ways Of the ungodly.
They go swimming & in waters on the Sabbath
day. The women are disobedient TO their
husbands, setting themselves up on the level
of men. They attire themselves IN gay ap-
parel, not conducive to the glory of God, yea,
wearing bonnets with flowers in them.
Whereas sin came into the world by wo-
man, therefore is the anger OF the Lord kin
died against this town. These presumptuous
females have brought a profane instrument
of music into the Sabbath school.
His eye fell on Shirley. The crowd parted
slightly. Pointing his skinny finger at her,
the deacon continued his fierce denuncia-
ton:
Yea, following the lead of goddess female
teachers, they have set up the scandalous
practice of praising the Lord with flddles.
The Almighty win not hold them guiltleSs.
1 suffer not a woman to teach This people
have departed from the straight way. There
fore is the sword of the Lord against them.
Therefore / visit them with the pestilence
that walketh in darkness. saith the Lord.
Woei woei woe, to Sodom and Gomorrahi'
"Oh, bother! Deacon Durham said Shir-
ley, that's nonsense. There is not word in
the Bible against praising the Lord with fid-
dies. And as TO washing in waters, if the
children of this town did it a good deal Oftener,
they would be better OF and healthier. The
Lord never said a female should not teach,
either. 1t was a man said that But l quite
agree with you that tie Almighty has sent
pestlence on Linwood You are right that
His wrath is kndled against this people for
their sins, truly enough. He is visiting His
wrath upon them because they are lazy and
slovenly. Look at that common ont therel
1t Is blister on the face Of n civilized com
muuity. That's where the fever comes from
mostly. 1t has rained nearly every day this
season. The wind has been from the west.
1t has brought disease and death upon its
wings from that foul, reeling pond over
there. Look at these nasty puddles in front
or your very doorsl Look at these masses of
rank, rotten weeds Two hours work a week
from each gentleman who spends 50 much
leisure time i'll the grocery would change this
dirty, pozey, little town intoa garden of
Eden. But they don't give it. They let the
common lie fostering in the sun, month after
month, bringing fever and sickness. This is
why the wrath of the Almighty is kindled
against them, and not because a poor little
woman wears a flower in her bonnet. Is it
likely the Creator of the universe would be in
such small business as that:"
NO, by thunderln exclaimed Jim Sweet
Then Shirley got her doctor and her medi-
cines and went home. The sickness ragged in
earnest. 1t took off Hughie Carter and Katy
Trngle. Mis- Simpkins was left widow.
The gossips said her husband was just too lazy
to fight the fever, and so gave up and died.
Pet Carstone was very i'll. The pestilence at
tackled old Nine. Frenchy, Mrs. Carstone's
nurse. At last it fastened its grisly clutches
upon that tough old Christian, Deacon Dur
ham himself. 1t shook his ancient bones, it
scorched his cold inwardS. It ratified
him soul and body. Plahaly here was
the wrath of the Lord llindled also against
the righteous 1t wasn't the fair thing, not
at all.
There were weeping and desolation and ter
ror in Linwood Shirley worked night and
day, tending the sick and helping the well in
self-constituted committee of relief They
We're the Presbyterian minister, the doctor
and Shirley. After the first two the girl
came next in authority, by virtue of being
the teacher, partly, but especially by virtue
of being Shirley These three worked to-
gether with a will. The helpless, ignorant
villagers instinctively looked to them TO do
their thinking for them and to aid them in
their distress. And the three had their hands
full.
Shirley's sermon had sunk into the minds of
one or two who heard it. After the pestilence
abated the sermon returned afresh to them
They thought of it and talked. 1t was strange,
but they had never noticed how unsightly the
common-that camping ground of geese and
pigs-was before.
Once more the three lights of Linwood, the
Presbyterian minister, the doctor and Shir-
ley, laid their heads together. A Village I'm
provement Society, with a big "I7 and "S'
was formed. Shirley was secretary.
When the town dignitaries came to consult
about what should be done with their weeds,
their unclean streets, their goose ponds. and,
above all, their boss nuisance, the common,
they found that their girl secretary knew
more than they all put together. It was Shir-
ley who had heard about drainage and tree
planting and landscape gardening. She had
her father to thank for that again She had
heard him talk of all this many time The
books he studied were still there.
When the dry weather of late summer set
in the Village Improvement people began
their task with enthusiasm. The enthusiasm
did not lag after the first year, either.
Processes are tedious. They are exceed
ingly unromantic therefore not proper for a
novel. We skip them, and go on to results.
The hideous common became Linwood
park. a thing of beauty. The ground was
leveled and filed with solid sweet earth. the
plat was drained. The swamp in the center,
the most unsightly and unwholesome spot of
all, was changed by the magical power of
brains and fingers into an exquisite tiny
lake, the pearl and soul of the park.
Beautiful evergreen and hard wood forest
trees were planted, and clumps of blossoming
shrubs. Windin& walks were made. Here
and there the green was dotted with beds OF
| brilliant flowers.
The improvement Society with big / and
S did not stop its missionary labors at the
park. 1t invaded the village. The riot act
was read to the pigs and geese, and they
roamed the highways and the byways at
their own sweet viii no more. The streets
were drained, Strengthened and laid out regu-
larly. Sidewalks and streets were neatly
paved, and in time kept slightly and clean.
The patches of weeds in front of the Linwood
| homes disappeared and their place was taken
| by brilliant patches of grass and Towering
plants. Saplings from the woods were set
out in the town, and in time these became
noble avenues Of trees. Shirley ransacked
her brain and her fathers books, and redis-
covered graceful native vines and beautiful
| Towering trees.
| The Improvement Society proclaimed loud
and long the doctrine of mercy to the birds.
The Presbyterian minister preached ser
mons about it from bis pulpit Shirley
preached sermons about it in her school
| How the birds made the landscape beautiful,
| how they gladdened the earth with their
songs, how they were mans best friend in
| killing insects that destroyed the fruits and
/ grain for his food, was dinned into all their
minds. This gospel was proclaimed alike
from the pulpit and the school house till that
Lfnwood child who would have killed bird
would have been daring criminal indeed
The teaching bore its good fruit In due sea-
son Bright winged creatures-the red bird,
/ the blue bird and the yellow bird-darted in
and out among the leafy trees and played, as
much at home as if they had been in their
native forest, as indeed they were not far
from being. The little winged singers opened
| their throats and poured forth sound till the
air throbbed and thrilled with melody in the
| very heart of Linwood.
| So the wrath of the Lord was averted, and
the village was visited no more with cpl
denies of sickness. Out of the pestilence
arose healthfulness, beauty and refinement
Linwood became noted far and wide as q
model village
City people who sighed for rural life were
| attracted thither in numbers. They brought
with them additional wealth, intelligence and
| taste The town increased in population
From being what we first knew it, Linwoocd
became the ideal, beautiful country town
And it was Shirley. the inspiring and sug